The Religious and Seductive Role of Women in the Early Buddhist Society: Evidence from Art and Literature

Abstract

This paper talks about the women's religious and seductive roles, how society welcomed them, and how their contribution shaped society. This study discovers why women left the life of comfort, leisure, and family to adopt the holy pathway of Sangha. We also explore the effects of Buddha's teaching on treating women and how women's role as nuns, prostitutes, and courtesans affects the specific era. However, the descriptive research method analyzes the pre-Buddhist and early Buddhist periods and the ancient and modern literary sources to understand women's religious, seductive, and political roles and positions. An attempt has been made using secondary data to identify Gandhāran Buddhist art to help us conclude and distinguish women's roles and status discussed in this research. Even though women's groups have undergone different progressive phases, each phase is better at recognizing women's rights and importance in society. However, we still trail men personally and professionally.